


A Cooking Lesson

by things_that_matter



Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [13]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types, Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Family Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:00:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28833807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/things_that_matter/pseuds/things_that_matter
Summary: Elio wants to surprise Oliver with breakfast in bed for his birthday, and finds an unexpected helper.
Relationships: Oliver/Elio Perlman
Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094873
Comments: 10
Kudos: 18





	A Cooking Lesson

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ChalametGal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChalametGal/gifts).



> All of the stories I have posted so far were written quite a while ago, and I still have several more already written in this series that will follow this one. I've been posting them in the order in which I wrote them. But, I actually wrote this one this morning, the first time I've created for this series in a long time. ChalametGal, I gifted this to you!

Ollie stood in the arched entryway between the dining area and the kitchen, watching Elio. His big brother was staring into the freezer with a look so intense, it was as if the fate of world lay hidden within the bags and boxes there. 

"Whatcha doing, Elio?" Ollie asked at a normal volume, but it seemed loud and startling to Elio, who jumped and slammed the door shut. When he saw that it was only Ollie, and that he had in turn startled his little brother, Elio reached out his arms and Ollie walked over for a hug. 

"I'm sorry, Ollie. I didn't mean to scare you," Elio whispered. He pulled Ollie into a tight hug, feeling bad for alarming the little boy. 

Ollie wiggled free from Elio's clingy hug, though. He was fine. "What's wrong?" Ollie asked, in his normal voice. "Why are you whispering?" Ollie added, also in his normal voice. 

Elio placed a finger over his own lips. "It's Oliver's birthday," Elio whispered. 

"I know!" Ollie said excitedly, again, in his normal voice. 

Elio tried his best not to roll his eyes, which he had a tendency to do. In fact, Oliver had told him on occasion that he had a great talent for eye-rolling and could do so with a high degree of dramatic flair. Elio suspected that this wasn't entirely meant as a compliment. Nevertheless, he thought he was successful at keeping his eyes cast steadily ahead. "Let's whisper, Ollie. I want Oliver to sleep in so we can make him breakfast for his birthday," was Elio's whispered explanation. 

"I thought we were going to the 'zoo' for his birthday?" Ollie whispered. Ollie was skilled at whispering, and he wondered why Elio hadn't asked him to utilize this ninja-like skill sooner. He also put emphatic air quotes around the word "zoo" as he spoke, because this was only a ruse. They were actually going to the art museum, and it had taken Elio an entire Saturday to talk Ollie into going along with what Ollie considered a vicious lie, even if Elio preferred to label it a _surprise._

Elio smiled. "We are going to the 'zoo', but we can make breakfast, too," Elio explained, imitating Ollie's air quotes. 

Ollie's eyes went wide. His mouth went slack. Elio began to wonder if he was having a partial seizure. 

"Ollie?" Elio asked, suddenly concerned. 

But, Ollie only answered in amazement, "He gets TWO surprises?" Elio tousled his hair and laughed. "Do you think he deserves two surprises?" he asked. 

Ollie nodded emphatically. "YES!" he said loudly. Then, remembering himself, he whispered tinily, "Yes!" 

Elio's smile widened. "Then come here and help me choose," he said, and they stood side by side looking into the freezer together. "Looks like Eggo waffles, or Toaster Strudel... What do you think, Ollie?" 

No response was forthcoming, so Elio looked down to see Ollie with a look of utter distaste on his face. "Those both suck," Ollie finally whispered. 

"Don't say 'suck', Ollie," Elio mildly reprimanded. But, after staring at the two boxes a little longer, he did have to agree with Ollie. "Well let's look over here," he added, moving toward the pantry, pulling Ollie along by the hand. Elio's eyes brightened, "Aaaaah what treasures await, look Ollie! There's Pop Tarts, Lucky Charms, or...." he added a dramatic pause here as he picked up a box and presented it to his little brother as if it were the Holy Grail, "We could even do a packet of Apple Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal!" Elio smiled down at Ollie, but was surprised to see that Ollie still looked dubious. 

"Why don't we just make real breakfast?" Ollie asked sensibly. 

Elio tried not to be offended, but it did hurt his feelings a little. "Well Ollie, this is _real_ breakfast. You know, I'm not the best cook." 

Ollie hugged Elio tightly around the waist. "It's okay, Elio, I can teach you!" 

"You can teach me? How's that?" Elio was being patronizing, but Ollie didn't even notice. 

"I know how to cook lots of breakfusses," Ollie explained, and Elio smiled at the way he mispronounced breakfasts. It was so cute that he didn't have the heart to correct him. 

"And just how do you know how to cook so many breakfusses?" Elio asked. 

Ollie shrugged as if it were self-explanatory. "Oliver taught me," he answered. 

"When did Oliver teach you?" Elio asked, perplexed. 

"On Saturdays when you always sleep forever, I help Oliver make breakfast and he teaches me how," Ollie explained. He obviously didn't think this was as surprising as Elio did. 

Elio still stood looking into the pantry with the same puzzled look on his face. Finally he asked, "Okay, then what should we make?" he asked. 

"Pick me up," Ollie whispered excitedly, pointing to a high cabinet near the stove. Elio lifted him so that he was standing on the countertop, but he kept his hands right behind him, unwilling to risk a fall. Ollie pulled open the cabinet door and began sliding things around. Finally, he passed a few items, such as flour, and baking soda down to Elio. "YES!!" Ollie exclaimed when he finally found the syrup. As Elio looked away to sit the syrup next to the other ingredients, Ollie turned and bent his knees to leap down. 

Thankfully Elio was still right there with him and saw him in time. "No, Ollie!" he whispered, a bit harshly due to fear, grabbing his brother under the arms and gently lifting him down. He gave Ollie a stern look, but Ollie was on a mission. Even a stern look from his brother would not hurt Ollie's feelings this morning, so determined was he to make breakfast for Oliver. And, yes, the young child could admit to himself that perhaps his secret motivation was to show off for his older brother, too. 

Once on the floor and out from under Elio's harsh gaze, Ollie turned happily toward the refrigerator. Using both of his small hands on the handle, feet planted firmly on the floor, Ollie tugged the door open. He gave a small, "Ooof," when the door finally opened all at once, and again Elio was there to catch him. With unsteady hands, Ollie began pulling on the carton of eggs from a high shelf above his head. Elio did roll his eyes then, but only mildly and behind Ollie's back, as he took the carton from his little brother and sat them safely on the counter. Ollie turned and narrowed his eyes at his brother. "I can do it by myself, _Elio_!" he grumbled. Elio loved the way Ollie said his name when he was irritated. 

Elio simply smiled and turned back to the refrigerator. "Okay...What else?" Elio asked. 

Ollie considered this a moment. Elio thought his little brother was simply adorable when he was concentrating like this. Ollie's eyes cast themselves upward, toward the wavy brown bangs which flopped across his forehead, as he tapped his chin with one finger, for all the world like Sherlock Holmes. Finally, Ollie's eyes met Elio's again, his eyebrows shot up, and he bounced up and down as he burst out, "Milk! We need milk too, Elio!" 

Elio wasn't sure why milk was suddenly so exciting, and shook his head slightly as he grabbed the carton and placed it on the counter alongside the other ingredients. When he turned around again, Elio realized that Ollie was no longer standing beside him. "Ollie?" he called as he scanned the small kitchen, perplexed. Then, he saw Ollie's feet sticking out of a low cabinet. He'd crawled nearly all the way in to retrieve a large mixing bowl from the back. As Ollie tugged the bowl out, huffing with exertion, he explained, "It's the pancake bowl!" Elio reached down and helped him, and he was suddenly filled with affection for him. He was often filled with affection for Ollie, but he felt a new emotion, too, something close to admiration. Maybe Ollie actually knew what he was doing. 

Before long, the kitchen was a fabulous disaster. Flour dusted the countertops as well as the tiled floor. Bare footprints, a large set and a small set, revealed a hectic and inefficient travel pattern back and forth around the room. Egg shells lay on the counters, the wire whisk sat beside the "pancake bowl" with partially hardened pancake batter drying on them both, as hard as cement. But, to Elio's dismay, the pancakes turned out perfectly. They were golden brown, and surprisingly light and fluffy. Elio and Ollie put them on a serving tray, along with the syrup and some coffee. 

Oliver was laying awake when they finally carried the food in, but he quickly closed his eyes, feigning sleep. He'd woken up twenty minutes ago, but when he heard the excited whispers coming from the kitchen, he stayed politely in bed and tried not to think about who would clean the kitchen. Elio carried the tray, and Ollie sang the Happy Birthday song, loudly and off key, but adorably. No one noticed or cared about the white flour footprints that trailed behind them across the shiny, dark hardwood. No one noticed the suspicious smudges of maple syrup that were dried around Ollie's mouth, either. Oliver thought this must be the happiest birthday he had ever experienced, _and he didn't even know about the art museum yet._


End file.
